Who I worked with
No5 Young People, a Reading-based charity for young people providing free, confidential mental health support, counselling and outreach for young people aged 11-25 across the RG postcode area.
The challenge
As a small charity with big ambitions, the team at No. 5 were keen to adopt a planned approach to communication that supported their plans. They had lots of enthusiasm but limited communications experience and weren’t sure where to start or which communication training options might be best for them.
What happened?
After talking through with me what they hoped to achieve, they decided to take up my ‘Write Your Own Comms Strategy’ service. The facilitated workshops combined a structure for putting together a strategic plan with the skills transfer they wanted to build their organisational resilience.
Once they had put together their plan, I mentored their Projects Co-ordinator who was tasked with delivering the communications day-to-day. She had shown an interest and aptitude for communications, but was inexperienced in delivery. After 3 months of support and confidence-building she was ready to fly solo.
I also supported them to review their internal communications, running a dedicated session with the CEO and other team members to talk through how to apply their new skills with an internal audience.
The outcomes
The charity now has an effective communications strategy in place which supports their communications delivery and decision-making. Within only 6 months they saw a higher-than-expected increase in engagement, followers, fundraising and feedback as a result of the improvements they made in line with their new strategy.
Every member of the team who took part in the workshops says they feel more confident about their communications.
“The support, guidance and advice Sarah was able to provide to myself and the rest of the team at No5 was outstanding! The follow up email after a mentoring session where Sarah provided links and comments relevant to what was discussed was so useful and appreciated. The ‘ 5 Why’s’ has also been an incredibly useful tool and I find myself using it time and time again.”
Abbie, Project Co-ordinator
“This is the first time I feel that I know what we need to do with our communications. And I believe we can do it too!”
Alyson, CEO